NewYork-Presbyterian
Youth Anxiety Center
Advancing the Understanding and Treatment of Anxiety in Teens and Young Adults
Patient Stories
Flunked Out
“Sophomore year was challenging for me: I was put on academic probation, but I couldn’t face telling my parents, so they didn’t find out until they received a letter in May stating I wasn’t invited back.”
Scared
“Things got really scary during my senior year of high school after I was accepted at college. At first I was happy, but then started to feel sick.”
Lonely
“OCD-type anxiety is a very lonely illness. Your mind turns in on itself, endlessly deliberating over every thought and task you encounter.”
Fired
“I’m 23 and living at my mom’s house because I can’t hold down a job. I got hired right out of college, but then my anxiety flared up and I constantly thought about being infected with germs.”
Perfectionist
“Throughout my childhood I was a passionate overachiever. From a very young age I struggled with being a perfectionist, as well as with anxiety and depression, but they were not major factors in my day-to-day life.”
Struggling
“I was an honors student back in high school, and my college prospects were promising. But now, six years later, I’m still struggling to finish community college.”
Speechless
“I am 24 years old and just finished my master’s degree in health-care administration. I am doing well now, but I have had a lifelong struggle with anxiety that at times made me wonder whether I would ever make it.”
Procrastinator
“Anxiety is more often than not self-inflicted. I procrastinated in writing this piece until the last minute, regardless of the fact that I couldn’t wait to write it.”
Lost
“While on the outside others might think that I’m doing pretty well for myself, inside I feel like I can’t do anything right and will never be good enough.”
Worried
“I'm a worrier. When I was a kid I used to have a hard time being away from my parents and I'd think about all the horrible things that might happen to them.”
Obsessive
“All girls worry about what other people think of them, so for a long time I didn’t know my thoughts were any different from anyone else’s.”